Palm | Kelapa Sawit

Sometimes success can't be measured, or may even go un-noticed. Luckily in the case of environmental sustainability, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) makes sure that won't happen.

A new study by the NRCS finds that farmers and ranchers are producing more while using less. This is great news because it is helping to reduce the environmental footprint when it comes to food and fiber production in the US.

The study also found that soil erosion is continuing to decline because of more sustainable practices. The study finds that there has been a "50 percent decline in erosion of cropland by wind and water since 1982."

Small steps make big differences in creating sustainable practices. What are you doing to be more sustainable in your everyday life? We want you to post the steps you are taking to do your part in preventing soil erosion. Who knows, maybe you'll inspire somebody reading your comments to incorporate the same practice in their everyday life.

Remember, one small step can snowball into global change.

Source:
http://agwired.com/2010/04/29/american-agricultures-environmental-success/

The Story



As we all know there is a serious effort by many drivers on the road today to increase the average MPG of their existing vehicle. Many drivers are attempting to do this out of "eco-guilt", the guilt that they feel as a result of driving their car, while others do it as a means to save money. Either way the desire is there and for the sake of economics we'll call this desire "demand", which can be defined, "as the willingness and ability of a consumer to purchase a given product in a given frame of time.."



Now lets look at this same situation from another point of view. Capitalism can be defined as, "an economic and social system in which most trade and industry are privately controlled for profit rather than by the state." Since we live in a capitalistic society we can assume that there is someone out there somewhere who will attempt to take advantage of this opportunity to make money. As we have done above, we will call this “supply” for economics' sake.

Finally, elasticity, "refers to how supply and demand respond to various factors, including price as well as other stochastic principles". Applying this definition to our scenario, we can interpret the word stochastic to represent the unpredictable behavior of the consumer.

Economic Consequences

So, as the demand increases market rules suggest that the supply will also adjust to meet that demand. However, the suppliers are at an advantage because the false sense of urgency created by the media has simulated a highly inelastic environment. The media have compounded the publics need to feel as though they are doing their part to save the environment. Additionally, the economic strife that we have run headlong into over the last 18 months has caused people to go to ridiculous lengths to save money. This is often times taken to the extreme level of spending exceeding saving for the purpose of saving.

The arising problem lies amongst the individuals and companies that are entering into this newly developing market, of modifying existing vehicles to improve the gas mileage, for the sake of earning a profit at any expense. As you scour the web for ideas and gadgets that may help you in your adventure to reduce the MPG of your vehicle you may notice many “Miracle” gadgets or ideas that promise outlandish results. However, many of these gadgets and ideas are not as miraculous as they claim. In fact, many of them have no benefit what so ever.

Buyer Beware

If you go to the links that I will post below you will learn of just a few sources that have given a dose of reality to the preposterous claims of some of these ideas. Unfortunately, despite the public information that these products don't work, many of them are still on the market and the companies still continue to sell their products despite understanding that they are for the most part worthless.

Therefore, I propose that before any of us go out on a limb to purchase some kind of gadget or try some kind of crazy sounding idea to reduce our average MPG, that we should do some substantial research and understand what we are getting into.

Links:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/1802932.html

and

http://www.fuelsaving.info/debunk.htm

Blog posting by Mary Kelley


With alternative energy taking over the headlines last year as gas prices soared and the economy fell many individuals that may not have otherwise paid any mind to the topic started to take note. As people started looking to gas efficient cars they also started looking into other aspects of efficient energy use. Although phantom energy has always been around not until the past year or so has it really made it into main steam media. I was chatting with a friend the other day about the topic and they mentioned that they had even seen a commercial on television about it, I went to youtube to see if I could hunt it down and although I didn't find the one they saw there were about 60 others that were similar. Many of the ads were tailored to kids in particular. With growing awareness it appears that the industry is responding with user friendly products to help monitor and manage the phantom energy, although some resources may be pricey there are some fairly economical options, like the smart strip that you could maybe break even on with the money you save over a month or two. Maybe your vice is your cell phone, and you could use a friendly reminder to unplug it after it has charged: or maybe it's your super sweet entertainment system that's sucking your energy at night. What ever the case there are options and there will likely be even more options at better values as companies go the green route.

Through various media, such as movies and TV programs, we have become conscious to the fact that our children are being directly marketed to by large corporations with huge budgets. One of the large problems is the pervasiveness of advertising that bombards our children with messages that we do not support or undermines our values. While we are aware of companies like McDonalds and WalMart targeting our kids, we rarely expect to see it in our school systems. However, as any parent can attest, the advertising and the acceptance of advertising by schools, teachers, and parents has become outrageous.

Gone are the days when just local businesses supported a football or basketball team. Now we are bombarded with magazine subscription requests, cookie dough clubs, and other corporately organized fund raising. I, like many others, support the activity of fund raising by kids for a field trip or new band uniforms, however, modern fund raising has taken on a whole new marketing sector by enlisting children to encourage others to buy, buy, buy. Schools hang large banners with logos, distribute logoed collection jars, and host various other forms of subconscious advertising. Children are not just learning in schools, but becoming more accepting of marketing ploys from an early age. According to a recent article on Commercial Alert, the impact of all this marketing has demonstrated that “higher materialistic values are related to factors such as lower self-esteem, chronic physical symptoms, and higher rates of anxiety, depression and psychological distress” (http://www.commercialalert.org/issues/education/k12-schools/school-children-thrown-overboard-into-commercial-sea).

The toll of marketing doesn’t stop there. Kids are encouraged to “go green” and often with products that aren’t living up to the name. Through corporate sponsorships, corporations are gaining access to students, according to The International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics:

This site is generated to help those who don't know much about their current water usage and who want to learn more about how they can conserve. The program consists of an onsite audit, a history of your water usage and then it generates a report showing your current water usage, ways to conserve water that are specific to your family and your home as well as cost analysis. For more information about this program check out this site.


Do Not Let Your Property Leave You High And Dry

Visit our site:

http://sites.google.com/site/ecomerge2008/

If you are looking for a straightforward approach to home water conservation, check out the California Urban Water Conservation Council’s “H2ouse” project. The site is extremely user friendly, and offers an interactive home tour with suggestions for savvy water use for each area of your home. By mousing over different household areas, visitors can find useful tips, such as running the dishwasher only when it is full and washing dishes in the machine rather than by hand. (Apparently, it takes less water to wash a full load of dishes in the dishwasher than it does to do them in the sink). Other useful sections include a “Water Budget Calculator” and a “Garden Guide”, in which visitors can tour real low-water gardens. Take a look!